Review: The author of the article provides a brief review of the creative work by Michael Yudin, the Russian composer and Leningrad and Kazan Conservatory professor (1893-1948). The uniqueness and diversity of Yudin's work was highly valued by musical culture figures of Leningrad and Kazan. One of the purpose of this article is to describe main aspects of Yudin's musical creativity in 1942-1948 in Kazan. The teacher, public figure, and the author of many chorus compositions, Yudin became the first dean of the choral faculty in Kazan conservatory that was opened in 1945. As a result of Kazan's archives research, the author of the article managed to reestablish the history of creation of some works and to clarify the details of missing or previously misinterpreted facts. Yudin contributed to the development of opera in Tatarstan (in particular, his opera "Farida" written in 1944) during the era of intense formation of national musical cultures; Yudin also had an effective cooperation with the Tatar composer Saydashev ("Milaya Hafiza", 1943) and accordionist Tuishev ("Pioneer Suite" for string quartet). It was he who created the Kazan Conservatory Choir.

Review: Used by the Bengal Renaissance thinkers in the process of understanding of Other, a method of dialogical hermeneutics is reconstructed in the article. The method is described as a mental phenomenon and general way of understanding the Other, the latter is being represented by the Western culture and its representatives. The generality of the method depends on both circumstances of colonial urban society and educational and scientific development in India and general aspiration to revive as well as general aspiration of Bengal intellectuals to revive and develop India. Admitting the presence of some general method of understanding, the author reconstructs the method based on the phenomenological approach and analysis of texts created by the key persons of the epoch. The methodology helps to present a structure and peculiarities of the process of understaning as well as working of dialogic hermeneutics. Dialogic hermeneutics is described as a trajectory of the thought moving that proceeds from the aspiration to find universal grounds behind differences of cultures and points of contacts and similarity of traditions, and then it moves from an exposing the deep similarity to an understanding of differences as a result of many-sides of life. This method opened new ways of self-cognition for Indian culture and created “understanding as an event” (M. Buber) owing to which India opened herself to interaction with the modern world.

Keywords: liberalism, hermeneutics, method of understanding, understanding of the Other, the Bengal Renaissance, Indian philosophy, Indian culture, East–West dialogue, conservatism, self-cognition of culture

Review: In the previous article a hypothesis was proposed that the United States is a subcivilizacional community, which is different from Europe by the specific form of American individualism. In this article we consider, first, the specific forms of collectivism, existing on two levels: at the micro level in the various communities and clubs as an American "bourgeois community" and American democratic institutions at the macro level of the country. Secondly, the three forms of American individuality, specify the national specifics of the United States and compare them with a form of individualism with European counterparts to clarify the subcivilizacional specifics of the United States. Thirdly, a comparison of American and Russian forms of individualism and collectivism.There is used the comparative-historical analysis using previously developed system concepts, in the heart of the concept are notions of civilization, subcivilizacion and national communities, emerging around the "cultural core". There is introduced the concept of "bourgeois community" contrasting with the characteristic for the Russian “narodnik” discourse the notion of "community", a prototype of which was "peasant community". A concentrated presentation of the development of American democratic institutions at the macro level is done. There is identified and discussed three types of American identity, reflecting the specificity of the three regions of the United States: New England, the South and the West. The comparison of types of collectivity and identity in the United States and Russia, as well as the focus of their cultures (degree of pragmatism and idealism) is done.

Review: The article is devoted to the relationship between culture and civilization. Within the framework
of the research, civilization is interpreted as the external expression of culture while culture is the
content of civilization. Culture and civilization develop in different directions because civilization moves
towards the greatest possible objectivity while culture develops retaining its subjective nature. This creates
a growing tension in the relationship between civilization and culture. Civilization does not try to get rid of
subjectivity, however, natural or socio-humanitarian sciences are unable to offer ways to do it. The present
article was written based on the analysis and synthesis of the terms ‘culture’, ‘civilization’ and ‘subjectivity’
in the history of science. The author of the article also uses the method of rising from the abstract to the
concrete. The author offers his own definition of the term ‘subjectivity’ in terms of the relationship between
culture and civilization. According to the author, the ‘building’ of modern civilization is built upon the outrageous
discrepancy between the speeding movement towards the globalized humanity (following the way of
technological progress that involves the society and human himself and transforms the latter into an objective
and controlled element) and the level of understanding the nature of this movement.

Review: The author describes the definition and genesis of American individualism forming
the basis of subcivilizational particularity of the USA compared to Europe and especially
Russia. Individualism is a result of a certain ‘life style’ and colonization of a new continent.
The main ideals of individualism are a ‘self made man’, ‘American dream’, success, competition
and risk. The American individualism is viewed based on the examples of such typical
American phenomena as land, gold, oil, meat ‘rush’, growth of cities and colleges, development
of technology, education, science and culture. In his research the author has carried out
comparative historical analysis by using the developed conceptual framework centered on the
concepts of civilizational and subcivilizational communities that are being formed around the
‘cultural core’. Besides describing an important element of North American subcivilizational
cultural core the author also shows that it is the subcivilizational particularity of American
individualism created during the formation of the USA in the 17th – 19th centuries which is the
main cause of the USA’s leading position in the modern post-industrial world. The author also
describes the socio-cultural grounds of the American tendency towards the ‘direct action’ and
simpler forms of high culture.

Keywords: Post-industrial, the cult of rush, land rush, life style, self made man, the cult of success, American dream, individualism, subcivilization, direct action.

Review: The article is devoted to the role of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the
Intangible Cultural Heritage in the sphere of intangible cultural heritage safeguarding. The author of
the article analyzes the content of the Convention and established institutional structure. The author
also studies the examples of the implementation of particular projects on intangible cultural values
safeguarding. The author concludes that the Convention had played the primary role in protecting
intangible cultural values. According to the author, this can be proved by the fact that one of the results
of the Convention was the creation of the list of intangible cultural values. The list attracted attention of
different states and popularized intangible cultural values. The author also notes that the Convention
created the institutional grounds for the safeguarding of intangible cultural values and established
such authorities as the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural
Heritage and the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund. Based on the author of the article, that allowed to
assign responsible authorities at the international level. The author also states that the establishment
of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund financed collectively by the states participating in the project
as well as creation of the programs and other initiatives aimed at preservation of intangible cultural
values were the guarantee of an efficient execution of activities on preservation of cultural values.

Review: Latest Ukrainian events that have led to the disagreements between Russia and the West
regarding evaluation of these events return us to the eternal problem about relations between Russia
and the West as the two civilizations. Their relations have been developing in a form of a dialogue
but there have been periods when the dialogue has been ceased. This is what happened during the
First World War which 100th anniversary the world is going to celebrate in 2014. However, the First
World War was not the last evidence of a growing conflict between Russia and the West. The Second
World War was the next act of this tragedy. Reflecting on the two world wars of the 20th century,
the author touches upon one of the most nettlesome questions in history – the misunderstanding
that happens between different civilizations and the flare-up of which we are witnessing today. The
author of the article makes an attempt not only to understand the damage caused by the clash of
civilizations to the culture but also the way culture proves oneself in time of war. In this regard, the
author focuses on the mentality of nations entering into a conflict. War is usually studied by historians
or, to be more specific, military historians. Very few researchers study the psychological factor
of war. However, the author of the present article makes an assumption that the clash of civilization
does not only involve the conflict of military capacities but also the conflict of national mentalities.
According to the author, by studying the mentality factor as a significant cultural feature in the
history of wars, just as the present article does, we can create a new approach to war, the dialogue
between civilizations and functions performed by culture in extreme situations.

Review: The article is devoted to ethno-historical
concept of the Russian culture suggested by
L. Gumilev who discovered the relationship between
ethnogenesis and culturegenesis in ethno-cultural
history. He showed the dependence of culture on
the landscape, the biosphere and the passionarity
of other ethnic groups. Lev Gumilev viewed Russian
culture as the Eurasian phenomenon and the frontier
between sedentary and nomadic peoples, the
Forest and the Steppe, the East and the West. Collapse
of the USSR and the ethno-cultural crisis of
former constituents of the Russian and Soviet Empires
make us view Gumilev’s theory of ethnogenesis
in a different light and apply its projective and predictive
capabilities to modern socio-cultural realities
in Russia during XXI century.

Review: The author proposes a theoretical
model of origin and dynamics of new “butt-joint”
culture (term by G. S. Pomerants) cultures in Eastern
regions, based on an understanding of the Other
as general ground of that process. Civilizationalcultural
“borderland” in model is described as
imperative presence of Other (Western) culture and
its representatives in the space of traditional East Subecumenism. The attitude towards the Other from both
sides directs process and results of interaction. New
“butt-joint” culture is complex “symphonic” synthesis
of civilizations, which are in dialogue. Heuristic
possibilities of this model are depicted on the material
of the Bengal Renaissance XIX – early XX century,
which is the first regional variant of national-cultural
renaissance in India.

Review: According to the author of the article, Silver
Age showed that by restoring mythological pagan meanings
culture could actually destroy civilization which has been
slowly and heavily built by advanced force of people. That
artistic epoch was the resonse to introduction of huge massses
into the historical field of freedom. Old systems of hominization,
humaniziation and civilization failed – and the artistic system
stepped in taking people back to a pre-civilized stage with real
mysteries and human sacrifices in an effort to help masses
deal with all the freedom that came upon them. It was as if
humankind went through its spiritual development again and
came to prevenative mechanisms of civilization again, but
this time masses could deal with it. At the end of the article the
author concludes that after cataclysms in the 20th century all
Europe including Russia are coming back to the renaissance
paragirm of history (i.e. paradigm that is based on persoality).

Review: The article inspired by the work ‘Avant-Garde
in Culture of the 20th Century (1900-1930): Theory. History.
Poetics’ views avant-garde from the point of view of the
‘frontier’ conception. The author of the article describes
the heuristic potential of the system approach and raises a
question about specifying the civilization ‘look’ of avantgarde.
The author concludes that as a socio-cultural
phenomenon avant-garde is global but not universal and
its archaic origins are limited to Indo-European area.
During the Þ rst three decades of the 20th century avantgarde
movement covered the closely related civilizations of
the two types: ‘classical’ Western sub-ecumene and ‘frontier’
civilizations of Russia, Latin America, Pyrenean Europe and
the Balkans. The East was, and still is, affected by the avantgarde
movement but its affect has been rather superÞ cial and
avant-garde has been more of a foreign innovation there.

Review: The article is devoted to the language as one of
those cultural components which are the most apprehended
by very diverse culture beams with a very different level of
education. However, as numerous examples show, collective
stereotypes and prejudices are rather usual for famous writers,
people of art and even scientists including linguists. Collective
concepts of the world and language also need explanation
and assessment. The article compares collective concepts of
language in the two countries, Russia and Japan; regarding
Russia the article covers only Russian language speakers.

Copyright protected by law. Any materials may be published only subject to Publisher's concent.
All rights to the work, which was published under the name of our publishing house reserved. No part of the works published in printed or electronic editions, books and periodicals, on disks or digital and magnetic media, or on websites www.nbpublish.com, www.history-illustrated.ru, www.aurora-group.eu, www.e-notabene.ru can not be reproduced, translated into another language, stored in printed form or in any other way turned into another form of data storage, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or other - without the prior agreement and written permission of the publisher. And even if this was allowed to copy the copyright owner, links to the publisher and its publications are required.
For the content of advertisements published edition is not responsible. Editors reserve the right to place materials and journal articles in electronic legal systems and other electronic databases. The author can notify the Editor of their disagreement with the similar use of its materials no later than the date of the signing of the numbers in print.
Editorial respects the opinion of the authors of the published articles, but their views are not always the opinion of the publisher.